copyright © 2002, abouttajweed.com, all rights reserved

Question

 When reading the following ayah in surah Al Nahl, I found some difficulty in reciting the "Ikhfa" that comes when a tanween meets a " " ; here the tanween is at the end of : " " and the " " is in the next word with a shaddah on it (because of lam shamsiyyah).  Is there some difference here because the has a shaddah?

 

Answer

In the combination of words you are addressing there are two saakin letters meeting, the  saakinah of the tanween in the word and the  saakinah of the shaddah in the word  .  As a reminder, a shaddah means there are two of the written letter with the shaddah sign on it, the first saakin, the second with the vowel accompanying the shaddah sign.  There is a rule in the Arabic language that forbids two saakin letters meeting in pronunciation  between two words, so something must be done for these two saakin letters not to meet in pronunciation.  In this case, the  saakinah acquires a vowel, namely a kasrah when read in continuation with the next word, so the    then is not saakinah.  There for there is no ikhfa’ here.  Instead we read the word   with the tanween and put a kasrah on the  of the tanween, then go directly to the first  of the shaddah.  The pronunciation (but not the writing) of two words in question would be as follows, when read together:

 

Writing the words out like this are only used for demonstration purposes to aid the student in correct pronunciation.